LU , Shengnan

The paper presents design and operating characteristics of: An innovative rotoidal joint which, in addition to the robotic joint with a freedom degree with typical robotic accuracy and stiffness, can be rigidly locked to achieve a rigid structural connection such as to guarantee typical performance of a welding service equipment. A modular arm...

Applications of deployable mechanisms can be found in aeronautic and civil engineering, often in the creation of unfolding large-scale structures with curved surfaces. This paper proposes novel mechanical networks, which are used to approximate three-dimensional surfaces, such as cuboids, ellipsoids, or hyperboloids. Each such deployable...

Among Bricard's overconstrained 6R linkages, the third type has two collapsed configurations, where all joint axes are coplanar. This paper presents a one-degree-of-freedom network of such linkages. Using the two coplanar states of the constituent Bricard units, the network is able to cover a large surface with a specific outline when deployed...